Specials

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Here, I select a topic which everyone acknowledges, but people rarely speak about. Its sort of taboo to touch, and at the same time, very common around every franchise. Here's my take on "Piracy In Thomas" - where I try to lay out all the facts, but the conclusion is upon you.

Full Declaration: This article is not against anyone who uploads episodes on any platforms. This is merely meant for information and knowledge, and is not against anyone, not targeted at any particular person. The views below are purely my own and no-one else’s.Is it alarming for the team that a whole special gets uploaded in its m4v (iTunes) format in three hours of being released? Is it alarming for the team that YouTube is no less than filled with full HD recordings of episodes after only two hours of their original airing? Probably not… It is basic knowledge that Thomas & Friends isn’t the only show that suffers this. It can be music, apps, movies - released in the cinemas even, that show up on different internet platforms in unimaginably small amounts of time after their release. But, it is also an argument that Thomas’ “rips” are way easily accessible, being on one of the easiest and simplest platforms - that is, YouTube.You certainly won’t find anything else there. You wouldn’t find a Big Bang Theory episode, or a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle episode in full HD on YouTube. Heck, Thomas episodes out there even have subtitles. And who’s the audience? Thomas Fans. People who love the show, who have toys and collectibles… Hopefully, most of them still buy the DVDs when they come out?But wouldn’t it be obvious that it could be accessible to everyone? A parent would obviously think it better to let their kid watch his/her favourite show for free on YouTube, instead of paying a few dollars or pounds? Or would they? People still do buy DVDs, watch on TV, they purchase Digital Downloads, they do that. But, I bet Thomas’ US or UK sales would almost double if the piracy would stop (?). Though, as far as I know, most Thomas Fans do go out and buy the DVDs, once they come out - so that’s that. But do all of them? Certainly, they wouldn’t. Seeing an episode on YouTube, they don’t like it, they of course wouldn’t like to buy its DVD. But had the episodes not been on YouTube…?

Moreover, there’s a part that Mattel plays here. Its bound to happen if you don’t release or air things at the same time around the world. Knowing there are dying Thomas Fans out there for new content, giving it three months earlier to a country is bound to literally invite piracy, even on such an easy platform like YouTube. While people would have to search a while on the internet to find copies of Camera recordings of a new movie, a new Thomas episode would be sitting right in front of them on YouTube. So, could this problem be solved by putting out content everywhere at the same time? Half of it, yes. But Mattel surely couldn’t put it out at the same time, everywhere. Take my example: I live in India, where the only airings we get are repeats from Season eleven, twelve and thirteen. Isn’t it obvious I am going to turn to YouTube for new content? And when a DVD costs me a whole actual 47 pounds to get it to my house, with taxes and what-not, why would I not just watch it on YouTube? But Mattel surely couldn’t confirm to put out new episodes/specials everywhere at the same time. And then to TV airings… I’m half sure more people watch the episode on YouTube than on actual TV. Its gonna be recorded, they know. People from other countries’ only source is YouTube. And its very obvious we’d want the new things when they’re gonna air after a whole four months for us. And maybe, for some of us, never? So, yes, we’re definitely gonna go on YouTube and watch.

Is it wrong? Is it right? You decide. The facts are facts that Mattel isn’t putting out new content at the same time, and not all content is available everywhere. Hell, UK hasn’t gotten even half of Season 20 on its TV, yet. What do you expect from them other than watch it on YouTube?

And here’s another aspect, one which I was very badly involved with last year, and turned about a fourth of the community “against” me: cinema recordings. We all know how 45 minutes of The Great Race actually went public on YouTube, days before its digital release. Am I in any position to say its wrong? Are any of us? And why doesn’t Mattel put more restrictions on public uploads on these things? Many other companies do… I don’t know. I’m no-one to say piracy in Thomas is wrong. I watch episodes on YouTube all the time. What am I supposed to do else? Watch the Season 11 repeats on my channels? Pay 50 pounds for a DVD whose episodes went public in a country four months ago? I don’t know.Maybe its totally wrong. The people deserve to be paid for their creativity, their extreme hard work. Looking at it that way, Piracy should be completely ridiculed. But the fact is that most still buy the DVDs even though the episodes are available on YouTube… so that’s a completely bright side. And moreover, in this world where you can find literally anything on the internet, it seems like this piracy is only too common.Here, I will also thank those who make the episodes reach everyone, because without those who record the episodes and upload them, I’d practically never be able to see them.

But, I’d also like to suggest Mattel to make their content available in more and more countries, as much as possible. I’d also like to appreciate them about their extreme hard work, and making the franchise so beautiful, so memorable in many ways but one. Thank You, to the whole team behind Thomas…

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ThomasNATION member, Lana M. N. takes the pen for the review of the last (air-order) episode of Season 20, "Skiff & The Mermaid." Written by the talented Helen Farrall, let's see how the episode goes out...Hi! I’m Lana Naoum and this is my first review on ThomasNATION. I’m here to review "Skiff and the Mermaid". Personally, this episode has made me laugh much more than it should and that’s saying something as the other episodes, I gave a low rating for.

We begin with the narrator introducing Skiff, we see him do his tasks as the narrator describes, for example the rail boat tours for the tourists. Skiff overhears Sir Topham and the museum owner talking about a mermaid coming to Sodor. He then says this piece of news to Duck who doesn’t believe him.

During the day, he looks out to the sea waiting for the mermaid to come. Toad and Oliver come and they tell him Toad’s story about how he saw a whale stranded on the beach. The next day, he keeps on waiting, eventually Duck rolls past him with Topham and the museum owner talking about the mermaid, of course Skiff overhears them - this strengthens his doubts.Topham’s grandkids comes out and they talk to Skiff about land and water. Skiff notices something flapping in the water, so he rolls into the water hurriedly. Skiff instructs Topham to do a rail boat step, Topham has no idea what he says.Toad and Oliver are worried for Topham and Skiff being in the ocean. Captain Joe reassures the kids that Topham is going to be okay. The kids shake their head "no" - this was quite funny. We cut to Topham saying “nothing can go wrong”. A seagull lands on his hat and then to the oar, making Topham throw the oar.

An alarm blares out making Captain and Harold come out to find and rescue the both of them. Cut to, Topham going insane and loosing his mind. Topham attempts to start a fire as he wants to prepare for the night time. We see Harold flying by seeing Topham and Skiff. Topham draws a smiley face on a rock and putting his hat on it. Topham sees Harold and Captain and exclaims out. This whole sequence proves to be quite funny.

We see the kids being sad but we see Topham walking in - this scene is very heartwarming. Captain Joe apologies for Skiff’s behaviour. Skiff says he only wanted to see the mermaid. Topham says he got it wrong, we hear Thomas puffing to show the mermaid statue. Topham states that this was the mermaid Topham meant.

It’s not hard to say this is one of my favourite Season 20 episode. My favourite part is when Oliver makes an appearance because he is one of my favourite characters and when Topham looses his mind on the island because it is quite hilarious to see this. Plus the animation was nothing if not fantastic - Arc/JamFilled continues to impress. Personally, I don’t think there's anything wrong with the episode.

Rating: 5/5

The other members also gave it a positive review, while some thought it to be only above average. The highest rating was 5, and the lowest 3.

ThomasNATION Rating: 4.2 / 5

Thanks for reading! We'll be back with new posts soon, including the Season 20 Awards!

Hello, MrOliver! Ollie takes the pen to write one of the last two review of Season 20, "Hugo & The Airship." Most agree that the episode was not good at all... What does MrOliver think? Read:Hey guys, its MrOliver here to review "Hugo & The Airship!" Let's begin...So here we are with Part 2 of the generic “meet this season’s new Character” Episodes; the first being "Engine of the Future.""Hugo & The Airship" is based around the New Engine - Hugo wanting to fly after getting the Idea from the other Engines who mistake a blimp in the sky for him. The Episode is pretty Average. We start off with a recap on who Hugo is; The music used in this Opening scene is amazing, Chris Renshaw has proven himself with so many great tracks this season - This mixed with the great Direction and animation starts the Episode off on a high point. We then go to The Fat Controller at Knapford - showing Hugo off to the Railway board who are wary of Hugo due to his design. This is a nice thing to see, as it states many problems people had with Hugo’s basis; We also get some nice Comic relief like the Inspector who only says ‘Hmmm’...The third Scene is set at Vicastown Bridge where Henry is coming home from the mainland. As the bridge is lowering we see a Blimp shaped sort of like Hugo and with a similar colour scheme.

Henry and eventually the other engines think this is Hugo flying. I can kind of see where they are going with this, Kids can easily come to the conclusion that two things that look sort of similar are one in the same, I’m sure many of us did this as a kids with certain engines! After This, we go to Knapford station where James and Emily are discussing Hugo; James comments that he always knew that he couldn’t have been a real engine. I don’t get this scene, James was one of the engines who forgave Hugo in the last episode so why is he now saying this? Shouldn’t this be someone like Diesel, ‘Arry or Bert?Hugo arrives on the Scene and they begin to discuss the airship when suddenly Percy bursts in in a very humorous moment where he says how he's just seen Hugo in the sky before seeing Hugo sat two platforms away, - He’s so surprised that he manages to run straight into a line of trucks. But, Why are the trucks there? Nobody knows?! Seems a bit silly to leave them on a line Percy was presumably going to go straight through. We then cut to pretty much the same thing but with Thomas, Annie and Clarabel. This scene doesn't really offer much bar A few more shots of the blimp and Thomas’ regularly scheduled appearance. After comments from the other Engines and a chat with Skiff, Hugo decides he wants to Fly like the Blimp. To do this he goes to the top of Gordon’s hill and we then go through a veryyyyyyy overblown bit where Hugo tries to fly, Obviously to no avail. This felt like a quite boring sequence, aside from some good music.He eventually gives in and heads back to Knapford where he is so Distracted that he forgets to turn his propeller off while in the Station, - in front of The Fat Controller and the Railway Inspectors. This would have made a good subplot - Maybe the Inspectors could've said no and the engines had to convince them (to make Hugo stay) or maybe there could've been Accident and Hugo felt super guilty about it? It could have played his naive side really well, but no, they sort of just skipped over. The Episode ends with Skiff being shoehorned in, - The scene is not too bad, its quite funny and the characters seem natural enough... but why is Skiff at Knapford? Its never explained.

CONCLUSION

Overall the Episode is Average - barely a little above it... Its story is pretty enjoyable but theres so much filler in it - its kinda ruined. I would give it a 3.75/5.

Rating: 3.75 / 5

The other members had similar negative opinions about this episode, one of the lowest of the season. The highest rating was 3.75, the lowest being barely 2. It appears this is one of Andrew Brenner's weak episodes...

ThomasNATION Rating: 2.9 / 5

Thanks for reading! Check back ThomasNATION soon for more exciting posts!

For the last original Railway Series adaptation in Season 20, JFtheLOLZOR writes a marvellous review for "Useful Railway!" - written by Andrew Brenner; original story: Rev W Awdry. There's also a little surprise for you at the end...Hey guys, Jack L. Frefigs behind the wheel again. And boy have we got an episode for you! Useful Railway is part 3 of the Small Engines arc. And out of all of them, this one deserves the best mentioning. I mean, what do I even have to say? It's a really good episode. In fact, it might just be the best episode the season had to offer. To be fair, it might actually be better than Rusty to the Rescue. But with that out the way, shall we begin?The plot is that the passengers are all referring to the miniature engines as "cute", getting on Mike's nerves. You know what they say, never overlook a little engine! That night, Rex is trusted with taking wool to make clothes, but the next day, one of the deliveries is late. Why? Because of Willie (yes, Willie is in this). But uh oh! The wool he's carrying spills all over the tracks and Rex fails to slow down, so he derails right on the spot! Time goes by and Rex is left off the rails, but eventually Mike and Bert come to the rescue, making Mr. Fergus Duncan proud.But the reason I find the episode so great isn't just because of the story. The crash was also very intense and fit the style of the book. It's new, it's unique, and it seems to capture the power and also subtlety of what Awdry was going for. What makes it even more powerful is that there's a slow rendition of Never Overlook a Little Engine, which is not just tear jerking, it's Trolls version of True Colors tear jerking. (But the funny thing is the rendition of Never Overlook A Little Engine is often replaced by other music in these YouTube videos called RexVEVO. Funny as they are, they also can't help but be surprisingly easy. Anyone can do it. Even me and ThomasFan3000 did it. You can watch those at the bottom of the review.)Also, the lighting and animation of the episode are great! The animation, much like in Tit for Tat, looks and feels realistic. The detail during the crash is amazing. You can tell Jam Filled is gonna be a great group to fill in Arc's shoes. There's also a very clever explanation of how wool works, which I think is very clever, and also rather educational for the kids watching.All in all, Useful Railway is not only fun, it's also dramatic and emotionally subtle. It's a definite 5/5 from me. Thank you and I'll see you next time!Rating: 5/5The other members gave positive ratings as well! The highest being 5, and the lowest being 4.3.ThomasNATION Rating: 4.6 / 5Watch The RexVEVOs on ThomasNATION Funny!About The Author:Jack Frefigs - JFtheLOLZORFollow Me On Twitter!My YouTube Channel!Follow ThomasNATION on Twitter!ThomasNATION is on YouTube!

For the review of one of the concluding episodes of a marvellous Season 20, ThomasFan3000 takes the pen to write the review of "The Engine of the Future," Hugo's debut episode, on ThomasNATION.

Hey, guys! This is ThomasFan3000, here again to review Hugo's debut episode, "The Engine of the Future." This is nothing if not a controversial episode, completely fandom divided. While many appreciate its simplicity and moral, others think its far too dull, and doesn't match the par quality of the season.

So, what do I think of it? It appears I have taken the episode positively. Most of the episodes this season - even when they appear to be bad - I've taken positively, with the exceptions of the five of "Skiff's Mermaid" (even with its appealing humour), "The Missing Breakdown Train", "Hugo And The Airship" and even "Henry In The Dark" [which I liked, but also didn't] and "Mike's Whistle" to an extent. (But those too, I liked. Not loved, but liked - proving that this season, as most would agree, is miraculous.) But for this episode, I have mainly positives to say. But that doesn't mean its best...

So: we begin. There's an exceptionally fast engine who's speeding about Sodor, shocking everyone. This felt like the beginning to one of the two Nitrogen specials I loved, "Hero of the Rails." But that doesn't mean it was bad. In my opinion, it was a good way to start the episode.

The engine is Hugo. He goes straight up to Ulfstead Castle, and Franz - his inventor - introduces Hugo to Sir Robert Norramby, who were apparently friends. This felt really wonderful, taking the name of Hugo's basis' actual inventor - even though Franz's character looks nothing similar, but it is still a great thing for Thomas.

The news travels fast. And in a somewhat hilarious sequence, Thomas, Percy, James and excited little Philip go to Ulfstead to see Hugo.

Next, we see Sir Topham Hatt and Robert Norramy going for a ride on Hugo. Now, Stephen, tells the gathered engines about how Hugo may replace all them. He talks of the Steam Revolution, and the upcoming events that are quite similar. He intends that the current steam engines will be replaced by the likes of Hugo. And I loved this, quite literally. This felt natural, perfect. It teaches us about reality, and also acts wonderfully to place a fear in all the engines' minds about the end of their jobs.

Soon, all the engines at Tidmouth know about their apparent replacement and they are all genuinely worried about them being scrapped. Edward's line was full of punch - "I don't know anything else." This draws a direct parallel to how kids might feel when someone new's there. It could be a brighter classmate, or a new baby, or anything.

This episode is not just a "Thomas and engines hate the newbie" but this time, they have an actual, and just reason. Previously in suck circumstances, they thought it was a diesel, or the new engine looked ugly, but this particular reason of fear of replacement, is new, and more justified, more practical - and hence the story feels better, and relatable.

The engines deny Hugo to sleep with them. Percy tries to offer him his berth, but Gordon, denies contemptuously - and it couldn't have been more natural: Gordon's anger, Percy's anger, though overcome by kindness. The next morning, poor Hugo feels depressed - you feel bad for him - what was the poor engine's fault? What did he do wrong, except being new? Why should the others hate him? "I'm not going to replace you" he intends as he speaks to Thomas.

Thomas & Percy realise what they've done and want to make it right. Really mature, here, Percy, just like before... And I love it.

Finally, when ol' Hugo comes back from his journeys of the day (which was a nice addition) he is surprised with a party. He is welcomed. All is put right... everyone is happy... And the episode ends, and you with a smile on your face.

This episode teaches a moral: a very important one - of welcoming the new addition, no matter who they are, or how better than you. Make them your friends, let them in, and be happy..."Accept the new guy, he's really friendly once you get to know him." This episode's excellent moral is, well... excellent.

Then what is the downside? I'm no-one to say how it could've been better, but at moments it feels dull. There's an air of cliché around it, which even though it breaks, it still remains. It has a great plot, but something lacked in the script? And that's all. Other than that, it was really marvellous.

Those who say it goes nowhere - it does... It teaches an important lesson. Moreover, it is character development for all the engines, especially Percy. We feel bad for Hugo - his personality trait of insecurity is revealed, which is unique, and something new to the show that can be worked with.

The animation was wonderful. I don't know much about real engines, so I'll leave the problems of Hugo's render - if there are any - to the experts.

All in all, except from being a tad bit dull, the episode succeeds in delivering emotion, character layers, and an excellent moral. A great episode from Brenner. A 4.5/5 for me.

Rating: 4.5 / 5

The other members had positive reviews, and some negative. The highest rating being actually 5, and the lowest 3.